The five villages of Cinque Terre (okay 4 because we didn’t want to hike all the way up to Corniglia in the heat)

Since we had hired a car to get around Florence and neighbouring cities, we wanted to make the most of it by driving all the way to La Spezia to start our 5-day break at the UNESCO World Heritage National Park – Cinque Terre.

Trying to spread out at Monterosso Beach

Rather than write about this one, I am going to make it more of a photo blog with pictures from the villages we visited, but before I get into it, here are a few things that may come in handy for anyone planning a trip.

Riomaggiore – our favourite

We stayed at Monterosso which has an old town and a new part. Since it was 6 of us, we needed a bigger place but if I was to visit again, I’d prefer staying in one of the other smaller villages. Monterosso al Mare is very resort-esque for my taste.

London in Vernazza

Monterosso al Mare has the largest beach and majority of it is private. Since I refuse to pay to go to the beach, we always managed to spread our towel on the tiniest patch of pebbles (yes they are all pebble beaches).

Manarola foilage

When buying a ticket, you can either buy a one way ticket to one village only for €4 or get a day pass for €16. The day pass allows unlimited travel, including hiking, till midnight.

View from the Monterosso – Lavanto trail

Finally, another accommodation related story. So we booked our accommodation in February and the description and the pictures showed a beach front apartment with a seaview. When we got there, it had the view of neighbouring walls and windows of other apartments. We complained and were given a refund but as soon as the lady left after check-in, the AC stopped working. When asked for a replacement or further compensation, both the provider and www.booking.com refused to cooperate. Imagine trying to sleep in 28+ degree celsius, with all windows shut (to keep the mosquitoes out) and 5 others. It ain’t pretty. So after lots of fruitless calls, we decided to leave the apartment in a state. I have never done it before but the feeling of swinging garbage and stale pasta around the apartment is exhilarating like you wouldn’t believe!